Consumer Information Regulations; Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards; Rollover Resistance

The agency has concluded that consumer information on the rollover risk of passenger cars and light multipurpose passenger vehicles and trucks will reduce the number of rollover crashes and the number of injuries and fatalities from rollover crashes. This information will enable prospective purchasers to make choices about new vehicles based on differences in rollover risk and serve as a market incentive to manufacturers in striving to design their vehicles with greater rollover resistance. The consumer information program will also inform drivers, especially those who choose vehicles with poorer rollover resistance, that their risk of harm can be greatly reduced with seat belt use to avoid ejection. The agency has decided to use the Static Stability Factor to indicate rollover risk in single-vehicle crashes and to incorporate the new rating into NHTSA's New Car Assessment Program (NCAP). As part of these ratings, the agency also has decided to note vehicles that are equipped with "electronic stability control" technology, which may reduce the risk of a vehicle getting into an incipient rollover situation. This notice summarizes the comments received in response to the agency's June 1, 2000 Request for Comment regarding the addition of rollover ratings based on SSF to NCAP, our response to those comments, and the procedures and protocol we will use to implement a new rollover consumer information program.